Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1887-11-04
OLD DRESDEN.


roots, and with a long breath of satisfac
ton and the air Of connoisseur viewed
the pink tinted heap beside him. Pulling
off his dilapdated hat he allowed the cool
morning breeze TO play among the some
what ragged locks which hung over his
forehead TheIsun, like great crimson
ball, hung sleepily above the eastern hori-
zon, casting faint glow upon the turreted
face of the Floridas, and gliding the dis
tant peaks of the Tres Hermanas, standing
in close-lnked embrace, like allied sentinels
guarding the Mexican frontier. In the
long, level space which stretched between
the mountains, borne aloft on the curling
fingers of the morning mist, appeared
phantom city, its castellated heights and
stately domes rearing themselves as if in
prophecy of the years to come, when'a no
ble civilization shall redeem the barren
mesas of the Southern territories, and raise
its monuments of art and architecture
amid the arid plains.
The echo Of human voices fell upon Dres-
den's ear
"Oh, John, why must you go :" A WON
ans voice, low and sweet, with a tremor of
pain.
Come now, Helen don't be a baby,
dear Three weeks will fly by in no time.
And who knows how rich strike | may
make
But don't want it, | need you, John.
Old Dresden addressed himself to the wood
pile with redoubled energy. A flying knot
of mesquite struck his hand. The sting of
the wound refreshed him. and little later
he heard the door of the cottage slam,
while the clink of horses hoof sounded
on the gravelly soil As he watched horse
and rider disappear at length in the direc-
tOn of the mirage, which had shifted its
form so as to resemble huge beast of prey
couched for spring upon its prey, some
thing very like a hot German oath rolled
like stihed thunder from his lips.
"A teufel Of fellow" he murmured
more calmly under breath an instant later,
accentug the qualification with stout
blows of the axe on an obstinate root,
which had as many contortions as a dying
serpent. "A teufel of fellow. Leaf a
little frau like dat alone town to Mexico to
tig golt in mitte de winder. 1t might be
ferry goot for him, he added meditatively
leaning upon the axe -helve, his face screw
ed into a quaint grimace, ''as old Ju should
take off his scalp for him-but de little
frau"
With sudden indrawing of his shoulders
and an accompanying droop of the corners
of his mouth, he seemed TO protest against
his own harsh judgment, as he renewed
the combat with the obstinate fuel.
Old Dresden was not the only one who dis
approved of John Meredith's journey
through the wild Sierra Madre at that sea
son OF the year, when storms were fire.
quent in the mountains and Apaches skulk-
ing in the valleys and passes. His partner,
David Rowell, had entered vigorous pro
test, but to no avail John Meredith had
the pugnacity of determination peculiar to
men of genius. From early boyhood his
career had been signalized by a series Of
daring and headstrong exploits, and when,
as a crowning feat, he had captured pretty
Helen Gresham by an audacious move, if
David Rowell felt any soreness of heart
over her capitulation he choked it bravely
down and harbored no bitterness in his hon
| est heart.
A week after her husbands departure,
Mrs Meredith received a scrawl from Mes
lila, where he had expected to meet a
| friend, W ritten Just as they were taking
the trail And don't be worried, my
dear" he wrote, in conclusion 1.-THE days
will pass quickly and three weeks will soon
| be up But you must count from the date
of our departure. She dried her eyes and
counted the days from the 10th of Februa-
ry.
On the lst of March a warm wind swept
over the southern table-lands. Under its
| breath the snow upon the mountain peaks
vanished as if 10y magic and the dry bed of
the NJ iembres became the course of a surg
| ing torrent, sweeping onward for final
| plunge into the waters of the gulf. The
| fern-like foliage of the mesquite commenc-
ed to cautiously unfold, and the wild YER
| bena and lupine made tiny patches of pur-
| pie and magenta over the sterile wastes.
On the 3D. of March Helen Meredith rose
| with trembling eagernesS at dawn. The
morning was calm and still, but peculiar
| obscurity about the horizon presaged the ap-
| proach of the New Mexican sirocco. Sta
| toned at bull seye window III the attic
with field glass in her hand, the young
wife kept her eyes steadily fixed on the
winding, sllvery ribbon, attenuated to q
| thread in the distance, which marked the
line of travel pursued by passers to and
fro over the the Mexican line. For up
ward of an hour nothing rewarded her Wig
lance then long and blurred mass de
veloped into train of hay wagons, each
| drawn by a score Of stout-limbed oxen and
attended by deputation of half clothed
| swarthy Mexicans: Another hour passed
and the rough wagon of a Texan rancheI
| appeared. the horses strolling leisurely
| along, while man and wife, perched on the
high drivers seat, smoked their clay pipes
in placid content.
| Absorbed in her anxious watch, little
Mrs Meredith had not observed that the
wind had risen, and, for moment, was al
most appalled, to see road and landscape dis
appear from view beneath a dun colored
cloud, which, as it drew near, elfectually
concealed every trace of the cottages acros!
the street. and swallowed up the form of q
passer-by on her own sidewalk. Shreds o.
cloth, bits of pasteboard, and great sheet,
of paper were caught up by the wind
along with the clouds of dust and gravel
and borne onward in its mad flight. In
lower latitude the great velocity of the
wind, coupled with the force of weight
er atmosphere, would have given the storm
the force of cyclone As it was, it would
do little mischief beyond arousing the TEN
pers of mankind and uprooting sundry out
houses built upon insecure foundations
| Mrs Meredith with GOODNESS and patience
| born of experience, bore this assault upoI
| her domicile with charming equaninity
Moving about the house, she proceeded t
collect number of long and slender sand
bags, indispensable adjuncts to the tidy
| New Mexican housewife, and to arrang,
them in their accustomed places over doo
and window sills, thus fighting the intru
sive element ON the homeopathic principle
All that day, and the next, she waited
in melancholy expectancy, not knowing
what minute the familiar step might be
heard on her little porch. On the third da!
the storm subsidized, and the fearless eyes o
the despairing woman beheld only desc
late plain, fanked by pitiless hills, and in
tersected by the white road, along which
no sign of life could be detected Tn
mountains in all directions had renewe,
their crests of snow.
Succeeding days moved by in torturinl
suspense. As time progressed, the sun
rays beat even more warmly upon tn
earth, and, by the middle of March, tn
heat at MONDAY was like a foretaste o
summer, Passers-by, as they neared tn
small cottage, learned to expect vision o
pair of imploring eyes at the door or win
dow, or at nightfall womans form, en-
veloped in a worsted shawl, pacing up AM
down behind the double row of cacti AM
trio of sickly cherry trees which constitut
ed the sole verdure in the garden, Mari
ana in the moated grange, quoted a few o
the more mischievous, in wilful travesty o
the situation, for his wife's anxiety owe
Meredith's prolonged absence was the sub
iect of general comment, meeting with lii
tie sympathy among those accustomed I
the uncertainties of frontier life.
Two men failed 10 share in the prevailin
apathy. David Rowell, ON his regula
horseback ride before breakfast each morn
ing, never failed to circle about his part
| ner's house, and as the sad, questioning